Study finds 16% of women ages 18-29 think they’re infertile
Tag: fertility
Send a love letter — and support fertility awareness
In support of National Infertility Awareness Week, coming up April 22-28, 2012, the American Fertility Association (AFA) has introduced a 45-cent stamp designed to raise awareness about the issue and support those who are trying to conceive. You can purchase a sheet of 20 first-class 45-cent stamps (at cost) at the AFA site.
The AFA is also leading a “Love Letter Campaign,” in which you send a letter of support to someone else who is TTC. As the AFA’s site describes it, “The Love Letter Campaign gives you a chance to support, and be supported by, someone who understands. To simply say, ‘I’m sorry for what you’re going through. I understand. I’m going through it too’ in a gentle, non-obtrusive way… This year’s NIAW theme is ‘Don’t Ignore Infertility’. By reaching out to one another, and by using the Infertility Stamp, together we can support that goal.”
The nonprofit American Fertility Association provides the public and others with information about infertility treatments, reproductive and sexual health, and family-building options, including adoption and third-party solutions. They are based in New York City and reachable at 888.917.3777.
How will you acknowledge National Infertility Awareness Week?
Genetic Markers May Help Predict Fertility Decline in Women
Researchers at the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine have discovered genetic markers that may ultimately allow women to track and predict declining fertility.
How common is miscarriage?
A high percentage of fertile women who have unprotected sex will experience loss of a pregnancy at some point. According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, 25% of recognized pregnancies end in miscarriage.
The total number of miscarriages (including cases where the woman is unaware of the pregnancy) is estimated at about 50%. Pregnancy losses occurring within the first 8 weeks are most common. Few women experience miscarriage after the 12th week.
What You Should Know about Recurrent Miscarriage
A single miscarriage is not usually a cause for concern from a medical standpoint. However, consecutive miscarriages are rare, occurring in less than 5% of women. If you experience two or more miscarriages of in a row, you may wish to seek assistance from a reproductive specialist.
In some situations, there is an identifiable, medically treatable factor contributing to the loss of pregnancies. Many pregnancies simply end because of random chromosomal abnormalities in the egg or the developing embryo.
Recurrent miscarriage or early pregnancy loss can be physically taxing and emotionally devastating. Not knowing why this problem is happening can be especially distressing. Patients may experience feelings of self blame, failure, or desperation. It is important for patients to seek emotional support during this time. Professional mental health support may also be beneficial for patients coping with recurrent loss.
Pregnancy after Miscarriage
Fortunately, most women trying to conceive do go on to carry a healthy pregnancy to term after a miscarriage. This includes 60-70% of women who have experienced recurring pregnancy loss with no identifiable cause. Following a healthy lifestyle including good nutrition, diet, weight control, prenatal supplementation, exercise, rest, and general self care is the best course of action for women who wish to increase their chances of a normal pregnancy in the future.
Using Traditional Chinese Medicine When You’re Having IUI or IVF
Unfortunately, most fertility patients know all too well the struggle that comes with attempting pregnancy. They have gone through a profound journey through their emotions, frustrations, and desires. They have coped with the unfortunate side effects of prescribed drugs, not to mention the economic costs. The interesting thing is most patients are unaware of how Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) can help address their fertility. While modern medicine continues to astound and impress, generally there is a cold and empty climate surrounding the fertility clinic. The patients are not given the time and energy they deserve. While at a TCM clinic, it is the deepest belief that the mind, body, and spirit are one and they all must be addressed to achieve a state of health. Putting both of these kinds of medicine together has shown great success in recent studies. For instance, one study has shown a 26% increase in conception when using IUI (intrauterine insemination) and TCM together.
With these things in mind, I created with my partner Dr. Lisa Metzger a video that explains how TCM and acupuncture work to enhance fertility, and want to share it with ConceiveOnline.com’s readers:
Garden Acupuncture is a leader in fertility and pain management in the Park Slope area of Brooklyn, New York. The clinic uses Acupuncture, Chinese Herbal Therapy, and Nutritional Counseling. For more information, go to Garden Acupuncture online.
The link between exercise and fertility: How much is too much?
This is what a recent study set out to discover: the link between physical activity and how long it took for women to get pregnant. The research, which just appeared in the journal Fertility and Sterility, studied 3,600 Danish women between 18 and 40 who were planning to get pregnant and weren’t getting any kind of fertility treatment. They were surveyed over a year about how many hours per week they exercised, whether their workouts were moderate or vigorous, and whether they got pregnant and if so how long it took them to conceive.
For many women, frequent, vigorous physical activity was associated with taking a longer time to get pregnant. In women under 30 who exercised vigorously less than once a week, the researchers noted 353 pregnancies over the span of the study. For women in the same age group who did vigorous exercise five or more times a week, there were just 85 pregnancies. The fertility rate “was lowest for the women who engaged in 5 or more hours [weekly] of both moderate and vigorous exercise.”
The exception was women who were overweight or obese; for these women, any type of physical activity slightly helped, or at least did not hurt, fertility.
The study also found a modest increase in fertility regardless of a woman’s weight if she did moderate exercise, and concluded that slim women who switch from vigorous exercise to a more moderate intensity while they’re TTC may have more luck getting pregnant sooner.
Do you have rheumatoid arthritis or lupus?
If so, you may be among the many women with these autoimmune disorders who have fewer children than you wanted. A new study on younger women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or system lupus erythematosus (SLE) found that more than half of the women surveyed with these conditions have fewer kids than they desired, according to research published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research.
The researchers talked to over nearly 600 women with RA and 114 with lupus and asked them if, at the time of the onset of their symptoms, they had fewer children than they’d planned, the same amount they planned, or if they weren’t interested in having kids. While more than 60% were no longer interested in have children at the time of their diagnosis, 55% of those with RA and 64% of those with SLE wanted more children than they ended up having.
Women with both conditions are at greater risk for infertility and miscarriage. The women with RA who had fewer children than they wanted had a 1.5-fold increased risk for infertility compared to women with the condition who had the number of kids they planned for.
The link between RA and fertility is far from clear, however. Megan Clowse, the lead author of the study, told WebMD.com that “this study highlights the need to understand why women with rheumatoid arthritis appear to have more problems with infertility. “This has not been studied at all.”
The link between lupus and miscarriage is better known, however. The Lupus Foundation of America notes that antiphospholipid antibodies, which occur with lupus, interfere with the function of blood vessels and can leave to miscarriage, among other serious complications. Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect various parts of the body, especially the skin, joints, blood, and kidneys, says the Foundation.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that leads to joint and tissue inflammation.
The American Fertility Association’s Top Ten Fertility Myths
by Patricia Mendell, L.C.S.W.
As a psychotherapist working in the field of reproductive medicine I have counseled hundreds of women and men about fertility-related issues, from preserving one’s fertility and contraception to problems …
Women with recurrent miscarriage have a good chance of having a pregnancy and live birth
I.U.I. vrs I.V.F. – A Patient’s Guide
by Daniel Shapiro M.D.
When a couple present themselves for fertility care, their obvious goal is to leave the care of their physician with a healthy pregnancy. For most couples where the woman is under 40, pregnancy is the ultimate outcome, …